January 8 – “Stumble”. Many Thanks to Lou for today’s prompt, as we take a moment or two each day this month to reflect on words that come from the community. And thanks to Linda G Hill for getting us organized!

(Part 2 of 3, continued from Intentional…)

I guessed we’d have to try another approach to find out more about the Squirrel Bird Woman.

Joe and I worked the coffee shop while going to graduate school. Well, Joe was taking a break from his program to focus on the coffee shop, which actually, he now owns. My graduate program was not what I’d hoped, but I was still swimming against the tide, hoping that by being intentional and working hard, I’d stumble my way through and get that degree. In my idealism, I hoped to someday be in a position to help others ask their own questions and fulfill their own dreams.

I got good grades, TA-ed for undergrad and graduate classes, volunteered for events when scholars came to town, but was shocked at how small-minded and pinch-hearted the smartest people could be. Even the professors. Not all of them, mind: there were some—recognizable within their first term at the University—who responded well to the pressure, diamonds in the dusty, broken coal that was the majority of us. Joe was one of those diamonds. But he was considering a different choice.

He was smart like that.

He saw something worthy in me I guess, because despite my awkwardness, my hectic ever-changing schedule, and my shaky, anxious hands, he’d hired me and kept me on. Being in a different environment called on different skills than in higher education, and apparently, I had some of those. “Besides,” he’d laugh, “I like you. You’re especially good with the dispossessed.”

(To be continued…)     

© Liz Husebye Hartmann (2026) 

To read others’ responses or join in yourself, please visit: https://lindaghill.com/2026/01/08/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-8th-2026/#like-19454